Way back on January 2 I posted about some goals—not resolutions–that I wanted to aim for during the course of 2017. I’m not necessarily planning to do a Wil Wheaton style check-in every month, but there’s little value in setting goals if you don’t reflect on them once in a while. Also I need to somehow get four blog posts out of the door this month, and I’m running out of days!

One thing that really struck me this year is how quickly all the good intentions fled once the working week routine kicked in again. It was almost like the Christmas break was an illusion once business as usual came barging its way back in. This is probably why so many resolutions fail: we simply fail to account for real life when we sketch out these pipe dreams.

Anyway, let’s go through them.

Learn more stuff

I did investigate and bookmark a bunch of sites. Some of them turned out to not be as useful as hoped. Some simply don’t post that much content. Several still look really promising; I just have to devote some time to them.

One site I have started using on a not-quite daily basis is Philosimply. I’ve had it bookmarked since the start of January, but over the past few weeks I’ve gotten into the habit of reading about a random philosopher each(ish) night. It’s not exactly study, but it’s interesting. It’s a start.

Be a better friend

This will be a work in progress. I’ve done a few, tiny, nice things over the past weeks, but I’ve also taken my eye off the prize more often than not.

Find ways of making a positive difference

This one is really nebulous. I’ve got a few things on the boil here, including some stories I’m working on that enable me to tackle issues that I feel are important. I’m starting the process of trying to give my eldest son more support with his schoolwork – particularly his handwriting and his ability to stay focused. I’ve made a subtle shift in my social media activities, mostly towards trying to remain patient when ‘debating’ with people and doing my best to not turn things personal.

Again, work in progress.

Writing goals

I’ve managed to submit a few stories already this year (and score a few rejections) which I’m pleased about. My morning shift efforts continue to go pretty well.

I’ve not done quite so well with the ‘blogging more’ thing (I’m supposed to do four blog posts this month) but there are still some days left, and I’ve been having some fun with my diary posts (although I’m not counting those towards my yoyo blog post count.

Summary

Overall, hardly a sea change. However, I’m satisfied that some change is happening, and I’m happy with my writing output overall. I might give myself the first half of the year to coax myself into more of a habitual improvement, and then see if it’s worth cracking the whip.